Monthly Archives: September 2012

BALTIMORE – Harvest season is under way in Maryland, and as farmworkers dig in so do human rights watchdogs. Wage theft, unsanitary conditions and safety concerns are among the issues on the radar, but those who want to help migrant farm workers experiencing those problems have problems of their own, and they’ve sent a letter to a special United Nations project outlining the situation.

Reena Shah, the director of Maryland Legal Aid’s Human Rights Project, says it’s difficult to contact migrant farm workers because growers can stop anyone trying to do outreach to the farm workers, especially when the workers live on the property.

“The growers will not allow them on, they threaten trespass, and there’s a lot of threat of retaliation to the farm workers who are reaching out to get help.”

Shah says a Maryland Attorney General’s opinion found that property rights can’t be above all of the other rights a person would have, but she says that’s not set in state law.

Shah says examples of growers denying legal access to farm workers have been documented in most states. Specific examples are represented in the letter, from 14 states. Shah has found these are not isolated incidents.

“These are things that happen on a regular basis that affect this population in a very grave manner, which results in all sorts of human rights violations, flagrant human rights violations.”

This is the first time legal aid organizations across the country have come together to submit this type of letter to the U.N. The letter was sent to the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights.

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Services provided to low-income people include employment (getting illegally denied unemployment benefits and back pay and wages due), housing (preserving affordable housing, stopping illegal evictions from public and subsidized housing, advocating for the correction of substandard housing, preventing homelessness), income maintenance (helping those with disabilities avoid institutionalization, preserving or obtaining public benefits, overcoming denial of public benefits), juvenile (representing abused and neglected children), consumer (preventing foreclosure, helping homeowners bilked by foreclosure rescue scams, correcting credit ratings, stopping dept-collection activity, overcoming illegal or unfair sales contracts, avoiding utility terminations), health (helping sick children and the elderly get medical assistance, helping seniors get Medicaid assistance so they can live in their communities), family (making sure custodial parents don't lose custody of their children, helping abused women obtain custody, divorce and alimony), farmworkers (educating and representing farmworkers regarding their employment rights and educating service providers, government and the public about farmworkers' rights and needs), and education (helping children get special education services to which they are entitled, avoiding illegal or unfair school suspensions and obtaining correct school records).

Pitch a Poverty Story to Your Editor.

Legal Aid is fielding a record number of calls from reporters. Suddenly, poverty is hot. Could it be it’s because so many middle-class people are slipping into poverty? Here’s why you should pitch your editor a poverty story: You’ll learn a lot about public benefits (such as food stamps, unemployment benefits and foreclosure prevention), meet some of our formidable experts…and gain expertise that could come in handy.
Cynical? You bet. I used to be a reporter.

Some Stats…

In 2011, Maryland Legal Aid helped 70,000 of our neediest citizens with their civil legal needs at no charge to them. Due to funding limitations, we are able to help only 20 percent of those who are financially eligible for our services.